Biography
Bradley Shelver (South Africa) holds his advanced Diplomas in Tap, Jazz and Ballet through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in London and attended the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg, He received his South African National Colors in Dance in 1996 and has performed for Nelson Mandela for the presidential awards and in 1997 was chosen as Contemporary Dancer of the year by the National Arts Council, which consequently led to the commissioning of his ballet "Bitter Love Suite" in 2002.
In 1997, he received a 1 year full scholarship to attend the Alvin Ailey school in New York and was asked to join Alvin Ailey Repertory Company and included the first ever visit of an American dance company in 40 years to Cuba.
He has performed as a guest with opera Singer, Jesse Norman at Carnegie hall in 1999, in the charity off Broadway Musical, " The making of a Perfect Mate" in 2000 and with companies like; The Universal Ballet Company, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, Westchester Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, Minnesota Ballet Arts, Nathan Trice Dance, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance and the Francesca Harper Project, performing Works by Francesca Harper and William Forsythe.
In 2000 he Joined Elisa Monte Dance in New York as a Principal, He spent 3 years with the company and taught as company teacher.
He has performed with The Complexions Contemporary Ballet and has danced with Ballet Hispanico of New York.
In 2002, Mr. Shelver had the Honor of being asked to Perform "The Blackbird Solo" choreographed by Mr. Jiri Kylian for the 70th Anniversary of Jacobs Pillow Festival in Massachusetts. He also performed works by Angelin Preljocaj and Ohad Naharin for the festival.
His Choreographic experience includes works for Cedar Lake 2, The Dance Umbrella festival, A commissioned piece by H.R.H Prince Frederick of Denmark and works for the Alvin Ailey school, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, The STEPS Ensemble and for the 2004 and 2005 Elan Awards in New York City and for the Artists of the Millennium Gala in 2004. He has created Solo and Company works which have premiered in Italy and Denmark, and has been featured in International gala's as a solo performer as well as conducting solo tours.
He is co-founder and Artistic Director of Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater founded in 2003. He is resident choreographer for the Oure Contemporary Company in Denmark.
He is on the Teaching Faculty of: The Alvin Ailey School (NY), Oure Sports School (Denmark), National School of the Arts (South Africa), Drew University (New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble) STEPS on Broadway (NYC), Estemporada Academy ( Italy)Labart School ( Napoli), Ials ( Rome), London Contemporary Dance School, Millenium School ( London) as well as conducting masterclasses ans workshops throughout US, Europe , South America and Africa.
He is currently with the Limon Dance Company, performing works by Jiri Kylian, Lar Lubovich, Jose Limon, Doris Humphrey , Doug Varone and Susane Linke.
He has been a monthly columnist for Dance Spirit Magazine and is on there advisory board for 2007/2008. He has been featured in Vogue, Elle, GQ and Surface Magazines.
He has appeared on Nickelodeon television, he has presented for K-TV , Maximum Me ( South African Broadcasting Corporation), CANI Radio FM, and he has been featured on PBS in the United States He also consults for ," IN SHAPE" magazine in Scandinavia.
His performances have been described as "outstanding and Gracefull" by Backstage ," Brilliant and sensual with his body and it's intention", La Tercera (Chile) and Potsdamer Nachrichten described him as," possessing an exalted charm which is an expression of all things beautiful and human", the Wolfsburg Algemene, Germany says of him," Outstanding in his superb expressiveness" and, "magnificent"
Bradley Shelver
